Iowa High Court: Pay State Troopers for
Commuting

November 11, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Current and
former Iowa state troopers chalked up another victory in
their battle for back pay as the state's high court ruled
that the troopers should be paid for their time commuting
between home and work.

>Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins, writing
for the court, said a lower court judge was wrong in ruling
that the commuting time was not compensatable under the
federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The court sent the
matter back to the lower court to determine the amount of
damages the troopers were due.

>Pamela Walker, a plaintiffs’ attorney, told
Thompson.com that the ruling will mean approximately
$500,000 in back wages and another $500,000 in liquidated
damages for the 147 Iowa Department of Public Safety
sergeants who sued. That is in addition to $5.5 million
already awarded to the officers in connection with
allegations of other state overtime pay violations.

>According to Wiggins’ decision, the lower court
judge had initially ruled that the state didn’t have to pay
the troopers for their commuting time except for sergeants
assigned to active road duty on a particular day, but that
meal times were eligible for compensation because the time
was spent predominately for the benefit of the
employer.”

>For example, the state required the officers to stay
in uniform, remain in radio contact and respond to calls
for help. The high court upheld the portion of the lower
court ruling on compensating the troopers for their meal
times. “Using a practical approach based on the realities
of the present case, a reasonable mind would accept the
evidence as adequate that the peace officers’ meal time was
predominately for the benefit of the state,” Wiggins wrote
in the ruling.